‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ Recap – ‘What Was Sundered and Undone’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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If there’s one genuine benefit when it comes to having an epic motion picture arrive upon the small screen in either prequel or sequel form, it’s the sheer fact that everyone involved with this extension of the original story are able to explore this world like never before. The cast and crew get to answer every single burning question on their minds about this universe, and in turn their work allows for the audience to explore everything the movie glossed over due to time constraints. And I think that’s really why I’m enjoying The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance so much, simply due to the fact that we’re going to every single corner of Thra, and learning all that we can about this rich world and the next episode of this series is no exception to that rule.
 
For ‘What was Sundered and Undone’ took us far away from the Castle of the Crystal, for the most part, in order to allow for us to see exactly what life is like for the common Podling and Gelfing in this world and as it turns out, it’s not all that different from our own. Because there are clans and societies that wish to keep to themselves and sadly, turn their back on those that are different as was evidenced by everything we witnessed with the Stonewood Gelflings since they were horrendously rude toward Deet, and were quick to lock up Hup, who we are also learning is not a man to be messed with. But I digress, because this really was a fascinating segment to watch since it really gave us an understanding of how divided this world really is and how much work toward unity everyone will need to accomplish when they decide to fight against the Skeksis.
 
That’s a point that was compounded further by Rian’s journey in this tale. Since we came to learn that his father made it to the Maudra first and that led to utter disaster for our intrepid and broken hero. For he was forced to face accusations of murder and madness from his own flesh and blood and it was just heartbreaking to watch him realize that he is truly alone at this point and the Stonewood Gelfing’s push to immediately trust the Skeksis’ lies over anything else is what truly reinforced the point that I made mention of. If anything, I have to admit that I was quite impressed to find such powerful drama present in a tale filled to the brim with carefully crafted puppets, but that storyline and Brea’s speak volumes to the quality writing present within this story.
 
Speaking of Brea’s journey, hers was perhaps the most ‘human’, since she struggled with her new assignments and her inability to continue her quest for knowledge, and that prompted her to rebel further and toss off the shackles of her new assignment, and do her own thing to get some answers. And it was just magnificent to watch this young Gelfing come into her own in this story and refuse to let the truth be buried and it would seem her bravery is going to pay off in spades come the next episode of this beautiful saga. For her time with Onica finally led to the discovery of a secret chamber buried within her mother’s throne room and I cannot wait to see what knowledge awaits her beneath this beautiful chamber, and what really what made this segment so human, was her unending quest to uncover the truth. Since in the here and the now, people are fighting with all of their respective might, to keep facts relevant in a world where others try to bury them.
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But all of that aside, we need to take a moment and also discuss Aughra’s return to the Castle of the Crystal. Wherein she came to learn that the Skeksis have done the Crystal great harm and it was just fascinating to see the Skeksis regard the powerful Aughra as nothing more than an nuisance after all this time, and it should be interesting to see what her next move is, now that she is in essence, powerless. In the end however, this was just a magnificent episode through and through, one that demonstrated the fact that story is going to matter above anything else in this series, and we are definitely going to be treated to a rich one for certain and truly, I am beyond excited to see how everything starts to come together as our heroes begin to expose the Skeksis for the liars and cheaters and monsters, that they truly are. Until next time.   

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